By Onika James Wednesday, October 28 2009

click on pic to zoom in

Basdeo Panday...

Former prime minister, Basdeo Panday, was yesterday given a deadline of November 9, to file, and serve relevant documents related to cost in the judicial review matter between himself, and Senior Magistrate Ejenny Espinet.

The order came from High Court judge, Justice Vashist Kokaram.

Panday, and his wife Oma, are charged with accepting a bribe of £25,000 from businessmen, Ishwar Galbaransingh, and Carlos John.

The Pandays challenged the decision of Espinet not to recuse herself from hearing a bribery case against them, on the ground of apparent bias.

The Pandays submitted that, Espinet was unfit to sit in judgment of them as she is a Trustee on the board of the Morris Marshall Foundation, based in Laventille. They also contested that Espinet’s father was twice a government minister and parliamentary secretary under the PNM administration.

On October 26 Kokaram dismissed their application for judicial review on the grounds that, the well-informed observer would have digested the fact that, Panday would say that the charges were politically motivated.

However, according to the judge, the observer, would want to know how it was that the magistrate was enjoined in a political battle against Panday, and is this magistrate, given her associations as we now know, unable to professionally judge the committal proceedings impartially?

Justice Kokaram said, “the web of links is tenuous,” and added, that, here, the balance between confidence in the Judiciary and the perception of a fair trial will meet its waterloo, if the well-informed observer is hasty in his deliberations.

He said, “a civilised society must not be quick to draw irrational or hasty conclusions. Restraint rather than swift condemnation is the hallmark of mature deliberation.”

Panday was represented by British Queen’s Counsel, Geoffrey Robertson, while Douglas Mendes SC and Ian Benjamin, appeared for Espinet.

The matter was adjourned to November 12.